Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

July 7, 2017 · 5:11 am

Stanton (the Mount), Laverton, Buckland, Sezincote – The Cotswolds

THe Mount

It was surprisingly hot and sunny today as we set off on a three mile hike (found in an excellent guidebook “50 walks in the Cotswolds” lent to me by my friend Francine).  Walk #8 goes through three perfect little villages, across fields and pastures between each, stepping over turnstiles and through kissing gates. After the hike, we had lunch at a picnic table at The Mount, a pub high on a hill overlooking the village of Stanton and the valley beyond and the hills. Good food and glorious landscape and free wifi which I needed, sadly, for an emergency with my dog back home. (We think she’s okay.)

 

Later we drove to a footpath near the bizarre country home Sezincote, which has Indian architectural touches including minarets and a big onion dome.

Looked like a cross between the Taj Mahal and Downton Abbey. Sort of. We also drove through Chipping Norton which was too big for our tastes and next time I’d like to check out the nearby village of Kingham (home to the posh pub, The wild rabbit).

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July 5, 2017 · 8:53 pm

Broadway Tower, Lions Inn/Winchcombe, Guiting Power, Slaughters, Boulton-on-the-water – Cotswolds Day Two

More driving and strolling and talking and eating with my old friends from London, here in the Cotswolds. We have been on some tiny narrow roads, seen glorious views, visited charming villages and eaten good pub grub. We have also been lucky with the weather, which has been dry, cool, sunny in spells, lower 70s.

We encountered tourists in some of the bigger towns (Boulton-on-the-water) and attractions (Broadway Tower, a folly tower with great views of 16 counties) but most of the time we have been happily surprised by the lack of tourists, maybe because it’s a weekday and before kids’ school holidays. In Winchecombe, we had a lovely lunch in the garden behind the Lions Inn (a ploughmans although no one seems to call it that any more…now it’s a “cheese board”; creamy cauliflower soup) and walked along the bridal path in Lower Slaughter (a sentimental favorite of mine… first visited in the early 1980s and last visited with my kids in 2004 when I insisted we get out of the car and walk a little so we could “feel the Cotswolds.”); did more strolling in Bourton (with ice cream in hand). I prefer the less touristed, quieter villages like Guiting  Power.

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July 4, 2017 · 10:10 am

Old Sheepcoate cottage, Broadway, Russell’s – The Cotswolds!

We are all happily ensconced in a spacious cottage outside of the classic northern cotswolds village of Broadway, after a lovely day that began for me when I met Marion at Paddington station. We took a two hour train ride to Evesham. Merida came running towards us with outstretched arms on the platform and whisked us off in a spacious car driven by her husband Chip, who is unexpectedly joining our girls weekend which is just fine. He’s an Anglophile like us and good company and a good driver. Our original plan not to have a car was not wise. Tonight we drove on narrow lanes lined with trees or dry stone walls into one gorgeous little village after another with creamy yellow limestone homes with thatched roofs and lavender, roses, and hollyhocks climbing up the walls. (Stanton, Buckland,  Snowshill!) I forgot how completely charming the English countryside is.  In Broadway, we ate outside on a picnic table at a lovely place called Russell’s, eating fish and chips and drinking cider. Chip and I wandered around the famous Lygon Arms Hotel which dates back to the 1400s, with old timber beamed ceilings, dark stone floors, beveled glass in casement windows.

At one point, we pulled off a dirt road by a farm and parked beside a pasture where sheep were grazing, high above a valley with the sun setting over gentle hills and we just stood silent listening to the sheep and the birds and the wind and I felt incredibly lucky to be alive and to have England and these friends as a near constant for the past 35 years.

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July 2, 2017 · 6:28 am

Trump react, Barnes Farmers Market and Sun Inn – London

With franine and una, Mortlake/east sheen

I knew it would happen but it caught me by surprise when it did. The first caustic comment about Trump from a Brit. My friend Francine and I were walking on a little path in Mortlake having one of our many heart to hearts when a man passing by suddenly finished my sentence. “One thing you might need to worry about…” I was saying to Francine when the man passed by and said “Trump.” We exchanged a smile and I said “I’ve been worried about that for a long time.” Francine said the guy is her neighbor and a police officer.

We walked further to the posh village of Barnes where we shopped at the little farmers market, ate pub grub at the Sun Inn, outside at a picnic table with a lovely view of the Barnes pond, lined with willow trees, swans gliding by. After a visit to Fulham to see Francine’s mum, we walked along the tow path from Barnes to Mortlake past the old brewery that is now the site of a controversial redevelopment that Francine is monitoring as part of a citizens action group. Lovely Dinner tonight at our friend Una’s in nearby east sheen. Must sleep.

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June 30, 2017 · 10:07 pm

Shoreditch, Brick Lane, Spitalfields, Lauristen Road: London’s happening Hackney Borough/East London

It occurred to me as I was taking an “overground” train this morning across London, from the southwest (where I am bunking in lovely Mortlake in the London Borough of Richmond) to the northeast in several neighborhoods in the borough of Hackney that I had no idea what I was riding. Was it light rail? New? How does it connect with or supplement the London Underground that I used in the 1980s and British Rail which I use from Mortlake? Turns out that this whole new system of rail (possibly light) has evolved in the last 10 or so years to connect the ever expanding and gentrifying neighborhoods of this city of 8.8 million residents.

The minute I stepped out of Shoreditch High Street  station, I could see and almost feel the energy on the streets – bustling ethnic food stands and trucks, young people in all kinds of getups and many ethnicities sharing streets sometimes adorned with graffiti or lovely renovated brick apartment complexes, Middle Eastern and African Muslims and the occasional Orthodox Jew, pop-up shops selling handmade shoes, clothing, highly -curated home goods or kids stuff,  cafes with gorgeous breads, salads, arancini (at Franze & Evans on Redchurch Street) cakes and small batch ice cream. So many entrepreneurs and independent shopkeepers trying to make a go of it. Lots of Allen and Carole Rubiners, my parents who dared to start an art gallery in a then-unfashionable suburb  of Detroit in the 1960s. Is it any wonder that I’m drawn to these neighborhoods on the brink of change, to these people pursuing their passions often against the odds? (Story of my life actually…) Anyway, I walked myself silly, exploring quiet residential back streets and colonized commercial hip pockets in and around streets including Redchurch (near shoreditch station) and Columbia Road and Lauriston road near Victoria park. Along the way there were little surprises including an urban farm in Hackney and colorful houseboats along an industrial looking canal. I ended up all the way at Mile End Station and somehow got back to Mortlake via bus, underground, bus and aching swollen feet, to have Brazilian food at The Tapestry Restaurant near the house in Mortlake. Shoreditch/Hackney sure  beats Covent Garden  (today’s version….not the less discovered 1980s version) and glad to see London continuing to grow in interesting corners and ways.

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June 30, 2017 · 7:58 am

Petersham Nurseries/Richmond, National Portrait Portrait Gallery, problems with Verizon international plan – London

 

Pam

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June 29, 2017 · 8:04 am

Busy Heathrow, Francine pick up!, gloomy weather, Iowa in Mortlake — Hello London!

img_1294I’ve never seen such a long line at Heathrow’s arrival passport control. It started even before we got to the main waiting area, with a long line in the long hall leading to the waiting area. Fortunately, the maze of a line in the waiting area moved fairly quickly so after an hour or so, I was with my dear pal Francine, whisking our way under a very gloomy sky to Mortlake where where we had a nice little catch-up and lunch, then walk to Mortake where Francine took the train to work and I wandered for another hour or so, jet-lagged but trying desperately to keep going. I stopped in at the new location of the sweet little cafe Pickle & Rye which I was pleased to see has retained its Yank decor (including such Iowa knickknacks as a UI Hawkeye cap and a mug from Marshalltown’s Maidrite outpost, an Iowa-born fastfood chain serving “loose-meat” sandwiches.) The owners, one of whom is from Iowa, are visiting Iowa right now, as it turns out but hope to catch sight of them later in the trip. NOw comfortably ensconced at Francine and Russ’s lovely flat on Shalstone Road and will attempt to stay await until late evening British time.

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June 16, 2017 · 2:11 am

Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor//Redamak’s in New Buffalo– good stops heading east to Detroit

We finally found an opportunity to stop briefly in Ann Arbor for a corned beef sandwich at the senses-overwhelming Zingerman’s deli. As good as I remembered. Also got a burger on the way home at a place we’ve meant to try — Redamak’s in New Buffalo near the Michigan/Indiana state line.

Place was packed on a Monday for lunch and we soon learned why. The food was good and service prompt. Next time we are supposed to try nearby Oinks for ice cream, my sister tells me!

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June 12, 2017 · 7:11 pm

Parks & Rec Diner, Guardian Building, Parducci reliefs – Downtown Detroit



 This summer’s adventures in downtown Detroit included an excellent egg-centric brunch at Parks & Rec Diner, a fun little spot  way downtown in a former, you guessed it, city of Detroit parks and rec office in a surprisingly elegant castle-like stone building. Cheerful spot with good service, lots of young people in vintage-inspired outfits (later learned there was an LGBT festival nearby) and creative egg dishes (a creamy bright yellow hard boiled duck egg accompanying a mound of smoked salmon atop a lightly flavored crime freise sauce, and a heap of thick brown eye from the famous Avalon Bakery; Turkish eggs – perfectly poached with olives, tabbouli and homemade pita).

Onto the Guardian Building, an Art Deco beauty that was more impressive than anything I saw recently in Miami’s South Beach. Who knew?

We took a free walking architecture tour that began at the Guardian and focused on the deeply cut ornate stone reliefs by an artist named Parducci that adorn buildings by famous Detroit architect Albert Kahn. We got as far  as the Penobscot building and then had to break off early so I could get to my 40th high school reunion at the always stunning campus of Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills.

It was amazing to see 30 some people including some from Australia on the walking tour by Pure Detroit. next trip, I hope to take a tour of the Guardian Building and maybe even dare to ride a bike around the area. I really think this time Detroit is “back” but it’s at that fragile stage where there’s a lot more work to be done but also a palpable sense of potential and discovery. I hope it doesn’t tip either way (back into decay/decline or forward too fast into overdeveloped. Tricky to manage.

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June 5, 2017 · 3:10 pm

Riding from Perry to Jamaica (Iowa) on the Raccoon River Valley Trail

We explored a new section (for us) of the Raccoon River Valley Trail in central Iowa yesterday — about  a 20-mile ride round trip between Perry and the tiny town of Jamaica (via another small town, Dawson) and really enjoyed. If only the temperature hadn’t been hovering around 95 degrees. This is the newer section of the trail so very smooth and in great shape. The stretch is very flat, leading through classic Iowa farm country and often tree-lined so shady in parts (which we appreciated on a very hot sunny day). 

We stopped in Dawson at the beautifully restored depot, which has a recreated freight area, nice bathrooms, an indoor water faucet and old historical photos and a mural of an old train.

In the town of Jamaica (must find out how an Iowa town ended up with this name), we stumbled upon the bar Just One More, that had much-appreciated AC in its dark back room. A woman was grilling brats and burgers outside so we had a late lunch —  two brats, a Fat Tire and lemonade – plus free popcorn – for $8 total. After chatting with some guys in the bar (one told us he was fixing his “first ex-wife’s” old farm), we ate in the screened-in porch at a high top table overlooking a small town rural scene (fields, an old ballpark etc.). The place seemed to cater to both kinds of bikers (motorcycles and bicycles.)

In Perry, we dropped by the bike shop next to the Hotel Pattee, which was having a 40 percent off sale on bike clothes – and also at Stitches in Time, an antique/junk shop, where I found a very nice quilt for $40. We also stopped at the ice cream shop along the trail in Dallas County.

 

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